Spending the night in a treestand
 

Has anyone ever tried spending the night in a treestand? I know it sounds crazy but I wouldn't mind giving it a try just too see what moves around at night

That is dedication, as for myself trail cams work just fine.

I use trailcams too, but I'd still like to see what goes on at night. Plus you wouldn't have to worry about bumping animals on your way in, in the morning

tree stand
 

That is some dedication but it will be darker than the inside of a cow what will you see? Trail cams are your friends they are always there when you can't' be.

I was planning on doing it on a full moon, if it's clear out. Should be able to see.

Might be interesting to hear all the sounds throughout the night. Who knows what you might see. Personally I would just set up a trail cam. Let us know what the experience is like, and strap yourself in.

Wait till its thirty below and snow on the ground and full moon-the animals will be easy to see against the white snow.

thats hardcore man. dont forget the harness incase you fall asleep

Time would stand still.

Why would anybody spend that much time in a treestand during non legal hunting hours! That's delirious, not dedication!

I would have to assume that there are 2 reason for him to sit in his stand overnight. The first being that he is interested in seeing what wildlife is moving around his stand site through out the night. He will be able to see slightly as he informed us that he will be sitting in his stund under a full moon. The second would be that he would be set up in his stand already for legal light without potentially chasing off the wildlife. I have said it before and I will say it again. I would use cams, but if he wants to sit up there all night then who are we to criticize him for it?

Sitting up there all night??...lolyou would be so cold stiff and your azz would be puckered like a prune by morning....you wouldn't be able to draw your bow even if you tried.....IMO

BUT more power to ya if you would like to try. I have spent full days on stand from morning til night Whew very very long if there is no action

AL

Sounds likes great way to poach a deer. All night up in the stand on a full moon, bow in hand. Monster buck walks by under your stand in your shooting lane. Thwack no one but you and the deer hear the arrow. By sun up he's dead and you have all day to track him. Makes perfect sense.

Allways wanted to do this also , but in a tree house .
Sleeping bag ,tent heater etc.
Sounds like alot of fun.
Watching the whole area, not just one spot like trail cam .

Tried that in a ground blind, once. :lol:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL123.../398345418.jpg

Chickened out about midnight. :D If I did it again, there'd be a small catalytic heater in there, with me.

Grizz

Who said anything about poaching? You are assuming alot

Your sitting in a stand on a full moon, 200"s walks underneath you and you leave your bow hanging and watch him walk away hoping he comes back during legal light? I'm not accusing or assuming you would do it, I'm just sayin that under the light of a full moon it's pretty bright and a monster walks right underneath you? I consider myself to be an ethical, law abiding sportsman, and a positive role model to my son, but I wouldn't want to put myself in that position unless I left my bow at home.

What an ignorant thing to say.

I spent the better part of a night in a stand a cpl years ago. We were in a bear bait and had a sow and cubs come in last minute at the end. When we tried to run her off she treed her cubs and then wouldnt leave. Total sit ended up being 4 pm til 530 am. Was a loooooong, tense, uncomfortable night.

The question wasn't have you ever been stuck in a stand over night, it was have you ever TRIED. Big difference. Human nature can do funny things to a person is all I'm saying. You find $100 bill on the floor of walmart. Do you bring it to customer service or put it in your pocket? Risk and reward is going to go thru your mind, and then the voice of the guy on your other shoulder starts talking. Who are you going to listen to?

Put it this way....if you leave your bow at home then you are all good. Take it with you and....you COULD be labelled as hunting at night. If you go for a drive in the dark to scout field at night and you have a rifle in your truck that is accessible.....F&W pulls you over....guess what.....you get to explain in court what you were doing in the dark with a rifle in your truck at arms length.

Natives hunt at night under a full moon.....part of their treaty rights isn't it? Not trying to derail, but people do hunt that way.....

LC

I agree, it's like going out on the lake with a fish finder and tackle to see if there are any fish there when season is closed.

I do see what your saying Kurt, it would be awful hard not to draw back on a pig of a mule deer in the middle of the night. I don't know, anyone that says the thought of arrowing a deer of that magnitude if they had the chance would simple be lying to protect there ethics. When you made that point it made me think so maybe I am not as ethical as I though I was.

sounds to me like you just said loud and clear what you would do. tsk tsk.

it wasnt with a bow, but a gun that i found myself staring at a whitetail well over 200. well its happened a couple of times. and it wasnt midnight either.....it was 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 3 hours after legal light. you can be sure i wanted him.....but breaking the law to do it just isnt an option. ive always said that if you had to cheat to win, you didnt really win.

No not really the same thing at all, the season isnt closed and I plan on hunting once it gets legal light. There is nothing illegal about sitting in your stand over night. I'm just curious too see what it's like, I don't want to poach anything. Everytime someone gets an idea on Alberta outdoorsmen he gets ***** on. I don't get it

just do it and dont worry about the crying zonk. to be honest, the thought crossed my mind yesterday. we got to our area a touch late yesterday, and could see 20 deer within 50 yards of the blind. for that particular stand, sleeping there would be the only option of hunting it in the morning.

I stayed in my stand one night last year so i wouldn't spook the elk i wanted to hunt out in the morning. Well it sucked..... poured on me all night and maybe got one hours sleep. To top it off I didn't see a single thing in the morning lol

Of coarse I said what I would do, I wouldn't go sit up in a tree all night long with a bow just to "see what would happen".

Two years ago I saw the biggest buck of my life 15-20min before legal light, 4 miles from the nearest house in thick bush. To this day I can still picture him standing 40yds away broad side for about 30 seconds. My rifle never barked. I still wouldn't want to put myself in a tree under a full moon with a bow in my hand.

I take it that this has happened to you?

I had my wife drive from Leduc to the north side of Edmonton to return $3.00 to a Wendy's Restaurant because they gave us to much change. This is something I do whenever it happens.

There are honest people out there and this fellow who might want to sit in a tree stand all night might be one of those honest people.

However, it would be wise for this fellow to do this sort of thing without any weapons on him at all (including in his vehicle) and just do this as learning experience.

See what the Fish & Wildlife would say about sitting in a Tree Stand all night.

Good on your wife. I agree some would pull the trigger and some wouldn't. I'm not saying zonks got any alterior motives, I was just pointing out a potential scenario and the moral dilemma a guy could be faced with while doing so. 200+ inches has the potential to give a guy bad judgement, even the most honest guys will be thinking twice about it.

Here is an idea that could solve this issue people have with this....

Have your bow on the ground all night tethered to your raising/lowering rope....when morning comes and just before legal light raise it up and get ready to hunt!

I thought more about this and I have gone in super early in the morning (pitch black) to get into my stand and get ready for something that comes in at first legal.....what would be the difference?

LC